– Rosa Brierley, Oldham East Division
In the summer of 2023, I joined 11 other participants and 4 leaders on the Girlguiding North West England trip to Canada! After spending most of my years as a Ranger during the pandemic, applying for an international was one of my final opportunities to experience a trip such as this as a participant. Our trip consisted of a week at a summer camp with other Canadian Girl Guides in Quebec, and then 3 days of sightseeing in Toronto!
During our stay at Camp Wa-Thik-Ane, we enjoyed a jam-packed week of program activities and watersports on the lake. We worked our way through many challenge badges during the week, such as ‘Morning Dip’ which consisted of throwing on our swimming costumes and running down to the lake every morning at 7am at least 4 mornings of our stay! It was also interesting to get involved in program activities, and immerse ourselves in the traditions and camp cooking of the Canadian Girl Guides; we memorised many new camp songs to take back to our own units! Our sunrise hike to ‘the Bluff’ was also unforgettable, as well as an excursion to a ranch for horse riding and zip wiring over the forests and traditional native land.
For me, a personal favourite memory was singing ‘Edelweiss’ around the campfire as the sun was setting over the lake – it made me realise just how special our shared connection to other Guiding sisters around the world really is!
Following our summer camp experience filled with amazing memories, we travelled via train to Toronto to round off our trip with some sightseeing. This included tickets to a baseball game to watch the Toronto Blue Jays, travelling up the CN tower for panoramic views of the city, and a day excursion to Niagara Falls! We took a boat trip to the base of the falls, and enjoyed a cable car over the river for more photo opportunities.
For anyone considering applying for an international who may be daunted by the prospect of travelling without knowing anyone, I would use my experience and the friends and memories I have made from taking this opportunity to testify to how worthwhile it is! Without this opportunity, I would have never been fortunate enough to visit Canada, and this trip has definitely given me the travel bug!
See Rosa’s photos here:
